Early Christians continued to pray and rest on the seventh day. By the 2nd century AD some Christians also observed Sunday, the day of the week on which Jesus had risen from the dead and on which the Holy Spirit had come to the apostles.Paul and the Christians of Troas, for example, gathered on Sunday "to break bread," Soon Christians were observing only Sunday and not the Sabbath. Patristic writings attest that by the second century, it had become commonplace to celebrate the Eucharist in a corporate day of worship on the first day. A Church Father, Eusebius, stated that for Christians, "the sabbath had been transferred to Sunday".

Polish president approves law to phase out Sunday shoppingSource: Catholic Herald

High street shops in Warsaw (Getty Images)

There will be a near total ban on shops opening on Sundays by 2020

Polish president Andrzej Duda has approved a law to phase out Sunday shopping by 2020.

The law was supported by trade unions and by the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS), who piloted it through both houses of parliament. The unions see it as a protection of workers’ rights while PiS wants to allow people more time to spend with their families.

Sunday shopping is now restricted in Poland to the first and last Sunday of the month until the end of the year. Next year, it will only be permitted on the last Sunday of the month, until a near total ban comes into force in 2020.

Shops will still be able to open on Sundays before major holidays such as Christmas, and some bakeries and online stores will be exempt.

In a statement issued in November, the Polish bishops’ conference said the bill did not go far enough, and that everyone should be free from work on Sundays.

Saturday, January 27, 2018

The INC was founded in 1914 by Felix Manalo, who the church claims was “the last messenger of God”.

"In the 2010 national census, 2.45 per cent of the population said they were members, making it the third largest religion in the Philippines after Roman Catholicism and Islam. It also has supporters around the world, particularly in overseas Filipino communities.

Imagine if an ex-Catholic member would seek refuge in other countries because his life is in danger. And those who wants his life are the very same persons who call themselves "followers of the real church"? What a hypocrite. This is why Menorca's case is UNIQUE to the Iglesia Ni Cristo® - 1914. It no longer embodies the Christian moral precepts that is a prescription for being a follower of Christ! That's why the INC™ can't blame non-INC™ for calling them "cult"! -CD2000 [Source: Rappler / A separate article is also published in ABS-CBN]

Canadian authorities say Lowell Menorca II 'is a person in need of protection from a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment and a risk to his life'

ARRESTED. Ex-Iglesia ni Cristo minister Lowell Menorca is secured by police officers after he was presented a warrant of arrest for libel on January 20, 2016. File photo by Lito Boras/Rappler

Rappler on Friday, January 26, obtained a redacted copy of the Canadian authorities' decision on Menorca's case. Canada's CBC News reported on the same decision on Thursday, January 25.

"The Refugee Protection Division determines that the claimant is a person in need of protection. Therefore, the Refugee Protection Division accepts the claim," said the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada in a notice of decision dated November 6, 2017.

"The panel finds the claimant is a person in need of protection from a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment and a risk to his life," the panel said.

Menorca, 40, had arrived in Canada on April 1, 2016, and soon after applied for refugee protection.

The hearings on his refugee claim took place on October 31, November 1, and November 10, 2016.

"When the panel considers the links between the INC and the law enforcement authorities in the Philippines, the general climate of impunity that pervades Philippines law enforcement particularly with respect to the issue of extrajudicial killing, and the level of corruption that exists in the Philippines government and law enforcement apparatus, the panel is satisfied [Menorca] would be unable to avail himself of state protection, from the risks that he fears in that country," the IRB also said, as quoted by CBC News.

CBC News said that INC's lawyer, Roger McConchie, said the INC will not comment in the meantime.

Rappler is also trying to reach INC for comment as of posting time.

Menorca, a former INC evangelical worker, claimed he had been abducted and charged with illegal possession of firearms supposedly to force him to expose members critical of INC.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

TRADITION. Jerome Dalumpines (2nd from the left) goes through the crowd in Quiapo with his friends. Photo by Eloisa Lopez/Rappler

Rappler.com MANILA, Philippines – Every January 9, a multitude of devotees join the procession or Traslacion of the image of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo Church, walking barefoot for hours through the streets of what used to be called downtown Manila.

As millions push and shove with blind zeal during the often 24-hour long Traslacion, millions too are the reasons, prayers, and wishes in the hearts of these devotees.

Among them are teenagers, who have been taking on the “challenge” of joining the procession – jostling, pushing, shoving, and climbing over the sea of humanity to touch the black image of Jesus Christ.

Many of these youth march in groups, hovering at the fringes along the route of the procession, mindless of the Traslacion's religious meaning.

Fifteen-year-old Ryan Bernabe is among these clueless youngsters, admitting that he began participating in the Traslacion 5 years ago with no meaningful reason. He simply wanted to join his friends who dressed up in yellow and maroon shirts every 9th of January, and walked barefoot from their homes in Tondo to Quirino Grandstand, and then to Quiapo Church.

For many years, Ryan felt he was left out, as he was born and raised a member of Iglesia ni Cristo. He was the only non-Catholic in his barkada.

Envious of his friends’ annual "get-together," he made a decision to convert to the Roman Catholic religion. He recalled telling his father his decision. “'Pa, I will leave Iglesia. I want to join in [the procession of] the Nazareno. I’m envious of my friends,” he supposedly said.

While his father hesitated, there was no stopping the stubborn boy. The next time he was invited to the procession of the Nazareno, he went ecstatic. He was 10.

For two years, he went with his friends as if it were a group outing. They wore matching shirts, walked miles together, and proudly identified themselves “Batang Herbosa” (kids of Herbosa Street, Tondo). It was all about the thrill of the “challenge” to touch the image of the Black Nazarene.

Such was Ryan's situation until two years ago, when he met a real-life challenge. Both of his parents were jailed for drug possession and use.

Life as he knew it changed in an instant. Ryan, the second of 6 children, had to take up new responsibilities. He found a real purpose for joining the Traslacion.

“[For two years,] I have prayed for my parents to be freed soon,” Ryan said in Filipino. “We were told they were supposed to come home in December [last year], but until now they haven’t. I just want them to be home.”

For 14-year-old Jet Soriano, however, his first experience of the Traslacion was not for the sake of participating in the procession. He did not walk barefoot and breathless for nothing. He had fervent request to ask the Black Nazarene, absolutely believing the image was miraculous.

For years, Jerome said he noticed a falling out in the relationship of his parents. But it was only recently that the teenager discovered that it was because his father had another woman.

In his first dive into the Traslacion, his fervent prayer was to have a "whole" family. “I hope Mama and Papa can fix their marriage,” Jet said in Filipino.

For the sake of tradition

Meanwhile, others simply join the procession for the sake of tradition.

Fourteen-year old Jerome Dalumpines had just gone through what seemed to be an endless wall of people to reach the andas (carriage) bearing the antique statue of the Black Nazarene. He was nearly out of breath.

“It’s euphoric,” Jerome said, “once your hand touches the image of the Black Nazarene. It’s as if all your problems are gone, like all your sins are forgiven.”

Jerome was 11 when he started joining the procession after being influenced by his brother and grandfather, who were both long-time devotees and participants of the Traslacion. He has no specific “wish” to the image that is believed to be miraculous, unlike other devotees who credit all their blessings to the Nazarene.

For him, keeping alive the family tradition was enough reason to attend every year. “I will do this until I’m old, even just for that,” Jerome said.

Likewise, 17-year-old Noel Cahulugan Jr made the life-threatening act of driving through the throng to touch the Black Nazarene Tuesday morning, January 9, to continue a loved one’s tradition.

Three years ago, Noel lost one of his closest friends, “Bradley,” who was then a sacristan in their parish in Novaliches City. Growing up together, Noel watched from the sidelines as Bradley kept his devotion to the Black Nazarene.

When Bradley died, Noel felt he had to take on his role.

“It had always been his dream to touch the image of the Nazarene,” Noel said. “Since we grew up together, when he died, I vowed to continue his dream.”

And for the last 3 years, Noel and his friends have kept their promise. – Rappler.com

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Among those persecuted and murdered CHRISTIANS, no member of Felix Manalo's cult, the Iglesia Ni Cristo® -1914 was ever mentioned. Noticeably, an INC™ paid minister would prefer cities toiled by Catholic missionaries, where religious tolerance is respected. In rural areas, they would visit places visited and organized by Catholic missionaries where knowledge of Christ and the Bible has been fully established then they would sneak in and demonize the Catholic belief to justify their revivedArian heresy. No INC™ would dare go to places hostile to Christian missionaries. Thus it's not surprising that NO-INC™ PAID MINISTER has ever died for the sake of their faith in the MAN-ONLY-CHRIST-FAILURE-SAVIOR they worship besides THE FATHER (therefore worshiping TWO ~ one MAN and one GOD ~) a teaching that goes against the Bible - God alone you worship! [Exod. 20:3, Deut. 5:7] -CD2000 [P.S. the INC™ Christ was a "failure savior" because he needed another "Last Messenger" in the person of Felix Manalo in order to save souls.]

Aleteia provides an overview of some recent 21st-century martyrs.

The blood of martyrs continues to be the seed of new Christians at the beginning of 2018. This is the conclusion we can draw from reviewing the testimonies of men and women who, in various countries around the world, have shed their blood for their faith in Jesus.

Below, we offer a list of present-day witnesses to the Gospel who have been faithful to the very end.

The list is necessarily incomplete. If you know other cases of Christians of any denomination who have been killed for their faith in Christ, please mention their names in the comments below this article, offering sources that will allow us to document the circumstances of their death.

Mushtaq Gill, a Christian lawyer handling the case, explains that Masih’s death is a terrible example of Christian persecution in that country: “Violence begins at the desks in the schools, because even primary school textbooks incite hate against non-Muslims.”

Joseph, who was 56 years old and the father of 11 children, had been a catechist since he as 36; John, 38 years old and father of five, had been serving as a catechist for ten years. Patrick was 27 years old, and still a bachelor.

They had told him on various occasions to stop preaching the bible. Nonetheless, Sultan Masih, 47 years old, Pentecostal pastor of the Church of the Temple of God in Ludhiana, the largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, didn’t stop.

“In North Korea, the most ruthless persecutor—as the report categorizes the country ruled by Kim Jong-un—the indescribable atrocities committed against Christians include food deprivation and forced abortions, while there have also been reports of cases of believers tied to crosses and placed over fire. Others have been crushed by steam presses.”

While the world prepared to celebrate the new year, this December 30, 2017, nine people were cruelly killed in an attack against the Christian minority in Egypt, perpetrated by an armed Jihadi in a church south of Cairo, for which ISIS claimed responsibility.

It was the last of a series of attacks committed by Jihadis which, in 2017 alone, left more than one hundred dead. It’s a very high price being paid by Coptic Christians, a community making up 10 percent of the nearly 100 million inhabitants of Egypt, the largest minority in a majority Muslim country.

Other examples of Catholic missionaries who died tragically and without the guilty parties being identified are Bishop Yves Plumey, archbishop emeritus of Garoua (1991); Fr. Joseph Mbassi, editor of the Catholic publication “L’Effort camerounnais” (1988); Jesuit theologian Engelbert Mveng (1995); French religious Germaine Marie Husband and Marie Léone Bordy, who ran a dispensary at a Catholic mission (1992); and Fr. Apollinaire Cloude Ndi, pastor of a church near Yaoundé (2001). Since 2010, many parishes and pastors have suffered attacks, which often met with silence from civil authorities.

10) In the hands of the Islamic State[Killers were Muslims]
A review of the witnesses of the faith who have given their lives for Christ during the past year would not be complete without mentioning the cases of Christian missionaries who have been kidnapped by the Islamic State or other Jihadist groups in various countries.

"Italian. Reformed the calendar (1582); built the Gregorian Chapel in the Vatican. The first pope to bestow the Immaculate Conception as Patroness to the Philippine Islands through the bull Ilius Fulti Præsido (1579). Strengthened diplomatic ties with Asian nations."

"...a calculation that determines the calendar date of Easter. Because the date is based on a calendar-dependent equinox rather than the astronomical one, there are differences between calculations done according to the Julian calendar and the modern Gregorian calendar. The name has been used for this procedure since the early Middle Ages, as it was considered the most important computation of the age...

"In 1583, the Catholic Church began using 21 March under the Gregorian calendar to calculate the date of Easter, while the Eastern Churches have continued to use 21 March under the Julian calendar. The Catholic and Protestant denominations thus use an ecclesiastical full moon that occurs four, five or 34 days earlier than the eastern one.

The earliest and latest dates for Easter are 22 March and 25 April. In the Gregorian calendar those dates are as commonly understood. However, in the Orthodox Churches, while those dates are the same, they are reckoned using the Julian calendar; therefore, on the Gregorian calendar as of the 21st century, those dates are 4 April and 8 May."

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

First, it is clear in John 17:5 what Jesus told the FATHER. Jesus said “I had in your presence before the world existed.” This proves Jesus already existed before the world existed. Logos was with the Father.

Second, we can read in 1 Peter 1:11 that the phrase, “the Spirit of Christ within them”. "inquiring about the person or time that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated when it testified in advance to the sufferings destined for Christ and the subsequent glory."(1 Peter 1:11)

According to a commentary book of a textual scholar in page 386:

“Peter spoke of the Spirit of Christ indwelling the OT prophets who lived before the incarnation of the Son of God, when he became Jesus Christ of Nazareth. This means the Spirit of Christ existed before the incarnation; it also suggests that the Spirit of Christ is not bound by time---i.e., the Spirit of Christ is eternal.” (Page 386, A Commentary on the Manuscripts and text of the New Testament By Philip Comfort)

It is clear that in the generation of the prophets of the Old Testament, the presence of Christ guided them.

Third, It is very clear that John 8:58 is proof of the pre-existence of Christ.

Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”(John 8:58)

It speaks his self-existence; he is the First and the Last, ever the same, Revelation 1:8. Thus he was not only before Abraham, but before all worlds. John 8:58 contradicts Abraham, who "came into being" (genesthai, translated "was" in the NRSV), with Jesus, who purely is (which Jesus states in the first person, "I am," ego eimi). The statement brings to mind as classic pronouncement of the eternal being of God in the Old Testament: "Before the mountains came into being [genethenai, infinitive aorist passive of ginomai] and the earth and the world were formed, even from age to age, you are [su ei, the second-person equivalent of ego eimi]" (Psalms 90:2 [89:2 in Septuagint] ).

The Greek sentence here shows the same grammatical structure as John 8:58 and uses the same verbs to point out the same contradiction between what is created and mortal and the uncreated and eternal one.

In the Book of New Testament Scholar, Murray J. Harris, John (Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament):

Fourth, If Christ is the power and wisdom of God and Christ did not exist during that time, it will show that God has no power and wisdom.

It is very clear Christ is the power and wisdom of God.

"but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God."(1 Corinthians 1:24)

The belief of those who do not agree with the pre-existence of Jesus is illogical. Aside from this, we understand the verse proves Jesus is not just a man. Why? If He is the power and wisdom of God and he is just a man, why will God get wisdom from Him? Does this mean man is more intelligent than God? And, if he is the power of God and He is just a man, why will God get power from Him? Is man more powerful than God?

Wisdom cannot be separated from the one who owns Wisdom. For example, if you have wisdom, can you separate this wisdom from you? The answer is NO.

Sunday, December 24, 2017

It sounds like a trick question akin to “Who’s buried in Grant’s tomb?” Of course Jesus’ birth is Christmas Day. But did the Incarnate Word arrive on December 25? I’d say there’s a 1-in-365 chance.

While births are significant in scripture, birthdays are not at all. Honestly, we don’t know what year Jesus was born, much less the date. Sometime between what we call 7 BCE and 4 CE, the Word becomes flesh and dwells among us. John’s gospel perceives the incarnation as central to history but the precise date is irrelevant. Details about Jesus’ birth, as narrated by Matthew and Luke, are shaped for theological reasons, and they are powerfully significant ones. Their historicity is less certain—and, for these evangelists, utterly beside the point. Mark shows no interest in Jesus until he’s a grown man. So anyone looking for the inches and ounces of Jesus’ birth will find the gospels unforthcoming.

So why did the church latch onto the 25th of December? That date doesn’t become a “thing” until the Roman Emperor Aurelius (270–275) institutes the sol invictus, or festival of the invincible sun. He sets this feast on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year on the Roman calendar. In the anxiety of waning light, the coming victory over darkness is merrily anticipated.

The sol invictus is so popular, and so light-centered, it becomes a no-brainer for Christian leaders to co-opt and consecrate the celebration on their liturgical calendar. Converts are drawn from the Roman world, after all. The recognition of Jesus as “Light of the world” weds happily with the established festival to remind new Christians that “the dawn from on high will break upon us, to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow” (Luke 1:78–79). By the fourth century Christian calendars include the nativity as a regular feast.

That works well in Rome. In Egypt and Arabia, however, winter solstice occurs on January 6th. A feast proclaiming God manifest among us, Epiphany, dawns for those Christians as well—which they celebrate on their solstice. In this easternmost part of the church, the feast is less about Jesus’ arrival and more about how his divinity is revealed: by the testimony of the magi, in his baptism, and through the first miracle at Cana.

Later the West adopts Epiphany, and the East likewise assumes the nativity. With dual origins, Christmas-Epiphany becomes more an extended season with multiple meanings than a single event. For centuries the feast is hardly observed as a birthday party for Jesus, which some parishes throw today complete with cake and balloons. Early Christmas liturgies were pointedly determined to fight heresies. In heavy dogmatic fashion, Christmas honored “the eternal Word made flesh,” in contradiction to the suggestion that the human Jesus was a divine mirage.

It would be centuries more before crèches and evergreens lightened the mood and the meaning of Christmas. Yet those strings of lights still remind us that a light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can’t touch it.

This article also appears in the December 2017 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 82, No. 12, page 49).

Image: via Unsplash

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST WHICH IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH!

Fr Joseph Jiang sued the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests after abuse claims against him were dismissed

[Catholic Herald] The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) has issued an apology to the Archdiocese of St Louis and two of its priests, Father Joseph Jiang and the late Mgr Joseph D. Pins, admitting allegations against them were false.

“The SNAP defendants never want to see anyone falsely accused of a crime. Admittedly, false reports of clergy sexual abuse do occur,” the group said.

“The SNAP defendants have no personal knowledge as to the complaints against Father Joseph Jiang and acknowledge that all matters and claims against Father Jiang have either been dismissed or adjudicated in favor of Father Jiang,” it said.

The apology was issued as part of a settlement with SNAP in a defamation lawsuit filed by Father Jiang in 2015, according to the archdiocese.

Mgr Pins died of cancer June 17, 2015. Ordained in 1970, he had been rector of the Cathedral Basilica of St Louis for 13 years at the time of his death.

The priest had been mentioned in a civil lawsuit that accused the archdiocese and St Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson of supposedly covering up for a priest accused in 2012, wrongly as it turned out, of molesting a teenage girl. The suit claimed the archbishop and Mgr Pins ignored requests to reassign the priest.

Father Jiang was associate pastor at the cathedral basilica when allegations arose that he had molested a 15-year-old girl who attended Mass there with her family.

A judge dismissed the criminal case against Fr Jiang in 2013 because prosecutors could not show the priest was ever alone with the girl at her home, where the alleged abuse supposedly took place. In 2014, Father Jiang was arrested and charged with molesting a young boy, but a year later, that charge also was dropped.

To clear his name, Fr Jiang filed a defamation lawsuit in 2015 against the boy’s parents and SNAP, “contending that the boy had been coached to falsely accuse an innocent man,” according to court records. The lawsuit also accused SNAP of carrying out a “shameless smear campaign” that “destroyed the life of a promising young man and priest.”

As part of the settlement of the suit, SNAP issued the apology.

“SNAP apologizes,” it said, “for any false or inaccurate statements related to the complaints against Father Joseph Jiang that it or its representatives made which in any way disparaged Fr Joseph Jiang, Archbishop Robert Carlson, Mgr Joseph D. Pins and the Archdiocese of St Louis.”

Pasugo July August 1988 pp. 6.“Even secular history shows a direct time link between the Catholic Church and the Apostles, leading to the conclusion that the true Church of Christ is the Catholic Church.”